Remnant: The Remains of a Once Great Civilization
by Roshank Redemption
Summary: RWBY x Bleach crossover. This is actually part of a larger 6-way crossover project I am working on; I just wanted to get feedback on a few of the chapters that contain only material from RWBY and Bleach. Enjoy!
1. Introduction

Hey everybody!

Welcome to my first every fan fiction story! This will be a crossover between Bleach and RWBY, two of my favorite series.

I should also mention that this is actually part of a larger 6-way crossover I wanted to do. However, before throwing out this ambitious project, I wanted to get feedback on a couple of chapters. This fan fiction will consist of only RWBY x Bleach chapters from my larger 6-way fanfic. If you guys enjoy this, I will start putting out chapters for this larger crossover, and will give you guys a link to it.

Also, any criticism is appreciated, and PLEASE point out any inconsistencies so I can fix them.

Now, without further ado, let's get into this!


	2. Chapter 1: The Start of a New Year!

World/Universe: Remnant. Character POV Weiss

A white - haired girl walked down a well - light hallway, lost in thought.

Weiss couldn't believe that she was already starting her final semester at Beacon Academy. It seemed like just yesterday she had undergone initiation and met Ruby, Yang, Blake, and her other friends. At the same time, it seemed absolutely ludacris that she and Ruby had once hated each other. Granted, they still clashed a considerable amount, and Ruby could be a little annoying sometimes (alright, REALLY annoying sometimes), but the two girls worked well together, and along with Yang and Blake were a formidable team.

"Excuse me!" a timid, high - pitched voice called out, causing Weiss to snap out of her daydream. "S-Sorry to bother you, but where is room 310?" a short red - haird girl asked. _She's obviously a new student here, _Weiss thought to herself, chuckling inwardly.

"Room 310 is just down the hall from here. I'm actually on my way to my own room right now, so I would be happy to show you!" Weiss said with a smile.

The girl blushed and looked down, but followed Weiss nonetheless. They arrived at the young girl's room in a few short minutes, at which point the redhead thanked Weiss and bid her farewell: "Thanks Miss!" she said. "I was starting to worry I'd never be able to find it, but thanks to you I was able to!"

"Of course," said Weiss. "And please, call me Weiss. If you ever need anything, you can find me at room 321. Don't hesitate if you need anything."

The girl smiled again, and Weiss departed for her own room. Bursting through the door, she was hardly surprised to find that she was the first one to arrive. After all, nobody else on the team was quite as organized and punctual as she was. That said, such punctuality was to be expected, considering her position as heiress of the Schnee Dust company. Her parents had made sure that she developed good habits growing up as a young child, and these habits had not left her in the transition to Beacon.

As Weiss made herself at home, her thoughts drifted to the Vytal Festival Tournament. The tournament, held once each year, was a monumental event that brought students from schools in all four kingdoms together to compete and fight against one another. To win the tournament, or even to win a couple of matches in the tournament, was considered to be an incredibly prestigious achievement. Weiss hadn't done particularly well at the tournament in the past, but she had really been working hard as of late, training with her father and other capable hunters and huntresses, so she felt confident she would be able to do well this time around.

"Ahhh," Weiss said to herself, falling backwards on her bed. "I think I'm just gonna relax a little bit, enjoy some piece and quiet before classes start …"

Then, suddenly, the door burst open, and two familiar figures walked through the door - one had distinct black hair with red highlights, and the other had long blonde hair with purple eyes.

"Weiss!" exclaimed the black - haired female, as she threw herself forward, squeezing Weiss in a bone - crushing embrace.

"Dammnit .. Ruby … you're crushing … me," Weiss squeaked out, but to no avail as Ruby continued the hug her. With a smile, The blonde - haired female pulled her back.

"Now now, Ruby. You can't just burst into a room and hug someone like **that.**" she said.

"But Yang!"

"She's right!" exclaimed Weiss. "You ought to learn some manners, Ruby!" she scoffed.

"That's right," said Yang. "If you're gonna hug someone, you've gotta hug 'em way harder than that!" she exclaimed, catching Weiss in an embrace and tackling her to the ground. And, unfortunately for Weiss, Yang was about 10 times as strong as Ruby, so if Ruby's hug had been 'bone crushing,' then Yang's was more like 'bone disintegrating.'

"Damnit Yang, get the hell off me!" Weiss screamed.

"I swear, you three are so childish," remarked a calm, composed voice from the doorway. "Can't you stop joking around for just a few minutes?"

The voice belonged to a black - haired girl with a distinct black bow.

"Blake!" Ruby cried, flinging herself towards her.

Blake held up her hand, causing Ruby to comically smash her forehead into Blake's palm. "Don't even try that with me," she said seriously.

For a brief second, the four girls were silent. Then, without warning, they all burst out laughing. The laughing continued for a good few minutes, and even then the four girls couldn't stop themselves from giggling a little, here and there.

_It's good to be back, _Weiss thought to herself.

"Alright, first things first. Listen up everyone!" Ruby said aloud. "As leader of team RWBY, since we've got the tournament coming up, we're gonna train really hard so that we can all do well! Even though it's **supposed **to be an individual event, I've got no doubt that if we work as a team in preparing, we'll crush the competition!"

Everyone in team RWBY nodded their heads in agreement. "Agreed," said Weiss. "So just what sort of training exercises do you have planned for us, O great leader?"

"Well … um … you see … I was thinking that … uh … Actually, to be honest, I've got nothin'." she responded.

Weiss sighed. She could hardly say that she was surprised, knowing Ruby. That said, she certainly wasn't disappointed. In fact, Weiss had anticipated that none of her fellow teammates would have any specific ideas for their training, so she had secretly come up with her own plan to help them prepare for the tournament. This plan would not only help them to get stronger in the upcoming weeks, but would also give her a chance to show off her family and their company a little.

"In that case, I've got an idea," Weiss stated. The other three girls looked at her intently.

"You see," Weiss started, "My father was actually once a hunter himself. I hadn't really talked to him too much about it in the past, but over this break he took it upon himself to train me. He knows a ton about dust, Grimm, hunters' techniques, etc., and would certainly be willing to train all of you as well, if **I **put in a good word of course."

Yang scoffed at Weiss' last statement, earning her a glare from Blake.

"Anyways," Weiss continued, "the my dad has a ton of state of the art facilities, training equipment, and a ton of other stuff that would definitely help our training out a lot. How about we train with him? I think - "

"Let's do it!" Ruby interrupted. Jumping on top of her suitcase, she exclaimed, "Alright team RWBY, proceed with operation Train with Weiss' Father and Pound Everyone in the Vytal Festival Tournament to Dust!"

Normally, Weiss would have scolded Ruby for interrupting her, but at the moment she was just pleased that Ruby was satisfied with her plan.

"Hey, if she's cool with it, then I'm cool with it," stated Yang.

Blake gave Weiss a pensive look. "I suppose it makes sense. I've never met you father before, Weiss, but if he's as good as you say then I'm sure it would be pretty beneficial for all of us. I'm pretty satisfied with the progress I made with my own training over break, but I can't say that I feel 100% prepared for the tournament, and while I can't speak for the rest of us I'm sure you all feel the same, to some extent. This … could be a great opportunity for us."

"Alright then, I'll call my father and we can set something up. He's busy, and we've got classes, but I'm sure we will have **some **free time to meet up and train with him." Weiss said. "Let's - "

A loud rumbling sound interrupted her. Weiss turned to face the source of the noise, shocked to see that it was Blake.

"S-sorry," she said, her cheeks flushed red. "I guess I haven't eaten anything in a while, so - "

"Then what are we waiting for, let's get to lunch!" Ruby cried, dashing out of the room and down the hallway, followed closely by Yang and Blake.

Weiss grinned. It was shaping up to be a great start to the year.


	3. Chapter 2: Father

World/Universe: Remnant. Character POV Weiss

_Ugh_, Weiss thought to herself as she collapsed onto her bed.

It was only the fifth day of classes, and she was already mentally exhausted. Of course, Weiss loved school, but at times it could be … **difficult**. Granted, she always applied herself to the maximum and **always **ended up with good grades in all of her subjects, but that didn't mean she loved all the classes she was taking. And after three years at the same academy, things started to get a little old. Of course, hanging out with her friends, meeting new people, training, and getting stronger were things that she never got tired of, but going to class every day and having to work and study almost every waking moment had taken its toll over the past few years.

Sitting up, Weiss lightly slapped her cheeks. _Don't be so negative, Weiss. After all, today's the day!_

Following their decision to train with Weiss' father just a few days ago, Weiss had called up her dad, who had agreed to train the four girls. They were planing on meeting up today (Friday) evening, and conducting their training over the coming weekend. In fact, she and her team were set to leave any second now, but as usual, the others were running late.

Weiss eyed the clock. _Dammit, where are they?_ she thought to herself.

Just a few seconds later, she heard a knock on her door. She swiftly rose and answered it, but to her displeasure it wasn't Blake, Yang or Ruby; rather, it was Jaune Arc and his team, JNPR.

"Hey Weiss!" Jaune exclaimed.

Weiss sighed inwardly. Her relationship with Jaune was … well .. complicated. Last year, Jaune had asked Weiss out multiple times, and while Jaune was a good kid, Weiss just didn't feel the same way about him. Not to mention, Jaune was **completely** oblivious to his own teammate, Pyhrra, and her feelings for Jaune. She clearly likedJaune, and was a great girl in her own right - pretty, strong, popular, etc.

And besides that, wherever Jaune went, his teammate Nora went with him. Nora also wasn't a bad person or anything, but God did she piss Weiss off sometimes. Somehow, Nora managed to be more hyperactive than even Ruby, and was at least 5 times as weird. She was strong, yes, and a great huntress in her own right, but could be downright annoying at times.

"We were just wondering, do you guys wanna train with us today? We're preparing for the tournament and were looking for some extra sparring partners …" said Jaune.

Pyrrha nodded. "I think it would be good for both of our teams if we could train together," she said. "I - "

"Yea, I'm kinda getting tired of smashing the same people over and over; it would be a good change of pace if I could smash some of your teammates instead," said Nora.

Nora's teammate, Ren, let out rolled his eyes at Nora's remark. "Nora, you can't just say things like that right to people's face. Be a little more tactful."

Nora pouted. "Well, so**rrrrr**y!" she said. "You of all people should know that I wasn't serious, it's not like I actually wanna hurt them or anything."

Ren rolled his eyes once more, and the two looked away from each other. _I swear, I will never understand that girl_, Weiss thought to herself.

"Sorry to disappoint you guys, but -"

Weiss' reply to Jaune was abruptly cut off as a blur of black and red slammed into her knocking the wind out of her. _Dammit Ruby_, she thought to herself, not needing to look up to know who had knocked her down. _Can't you be a little more careful!_

"Oh, hey Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed, getting up as if nothing had happened. "Say, we were just about to go to a training session with Weiss' father. Apparently he has state of the art equipment and training facilities! On top of that he's also supposed to be super strong. Wanna tag along?"

Weiss scowled. As much as she liked Jaune and his team, she wanted this to be an RWBY only thing. Her father wouldn't be happy if she brought along extra people. The last time she had done something without permission things had not ended well ...

To her relief, however, Jaune rejected the offer:

"Ah, I see," he said. "It looks like you guys already have plans, then. Training with Weiss' father sounds awesome, but I think we'll just train amongst ourselves for today. I'd rather not infringe upon Weiss' and her father's generosity."

Ruby pouted, and Weiss let out a sigh of relief as Jaune and his team walked away. _I gotta say, Jaune has really matured since he first arrived at beacon. It's hard to believe he was once that cowardly boy who couldn't even stand up to Cardin ... he's definitely gotten a lot stronger. And taller, better looking, more muscular … _Weiss trailed off_. Wait, what the hell am I thinking! _she thought, mentally slapping herself. Now was not the time to be thinking about boys, much less Jaune.

"Ruby, where are Yang and Blake?" she asked.

"Right here," came Blake's voice from down the hall. _Finally_, Weiss thought to herself, as the two girls strolled up to where Ruby and Weiss were standing.

"Okay then, everyone ready to go?" Weiss asked. The other three girls nodded the heads in unison, and the quartet strode down the hallway, excited for the weekend to come.

"Whoooaaaaa!" exclaimed Ruby. "This is amazing! That building is huuuuuuge!"

They had just arrived at the Schnee Dust Company headquarters, which was just a 20 minute Bullhead ride from Beacon. Weiss' father had been nice enough to provide them with transportation from beacon to the company hub.

Even Blake and Yang were impressed at the size of the structure that stood before them. Upon entering the building, the four girls were caught up in a bustling mess of bodies. Hundreds of people and employees were arguing over various issues, ranging from dust mining to weapons manufacturing and other issues. "This way," said Weiss over the multitude of voices, directing them to the nearest elevator.

The four girls filed into the elevator, and Weiss pressed the button to go to the topmost floor.

"Wow Weiss, I was expecting this place to be busy, but I had no idea it would be **this **crazy. Your father must be a busy man. I gotta say, I'm impressed," said Yang.

Weiss smirked. She couldn't help but be flattered - her plan to show off the Schnee Dust Company to her teammates was going even better than planned.

"Yea, this place is so cool!" Ruby exclaimed. "Where is your father's office?"

"Lucky for us, it's on the top floor," said Weiss. "And let me tell ya, the view from up top is amazing. This building is the second tallest in Remnant, according to Dad, and is by far the tallest non - government owned building. You guys are gonna love it!"

The elevator ride took a good 2 or 3 more minutes, for despite the speed of the elevator, Weiss' father's office **was** on the very last floor of the building, The team said little to nothing during this time, as they were so excited that none of them, not even Ruby, were in the mood for conversation.

When the elevator reached the top, the four girls exited and immediately gasped at the sight they beheld. To their surprise, Weiss' father's office was less of an office, and more of a … well, a **weapons** storage facility. The back portion of the room was in darkness, but in the front section alone there were weapons lined all across the walls, odd scrolls with distinct runes lying everywhere, and glowing dust crystals on display in various places. The girls also beheld a collection of elaborate swords that gave off a tremendous amount of energy and a set of unsettling horned masks that appeared to be made of **bone**. Most notably, however, near the center lay a small, glowing object that seemed to emanate a peculiar aura that drew the four girls towards it. Even Weiss, who had been up to her father's office before, had never seen the orb, and was curious to find out what it was.

In short, the entire group was at a loss for words. Except Ruby, of course.

"This is sooo **cool** Weiss! Seriously, who knew your father's office would be this … awesome. I can't wait to meet Mr. Schnee!" she said.

Weiss snapped out of her trance, taking her eyes off the blue orb at the center of the room. "Yea … he's looking forward to meeting you guys as well," she said. "Just make sure to be polite and grateful. Dad can be a little … **strict **at times."

The other three girls shivered, not knowing what to expect.

"Oh, and I almost forgot! Please don't call him Mr. Schnee. For one, he doesn't like being called Mr, and on top of that his last name isn't actually Schnee, like mine is," Weiss said.

Blake shot Weiss a confused look. "Wait, why is that? You two don't have the same last name? How does that work?"

Weiss sighed. It was a long story - one she hadn't told her teammates before, and was reluctant to tell now. However, she didn't have much choice at this point. Her team deserved to know, given that they were going to be interacting with her father.

"Well, you see, Schnee is actually my mother's last name. When I was born, my father insisted my name be Weiss **Schnee, **using my mom's last name instead of his. This way it would be clearer to everyone that I was heiress to the Schnee company."

Blake nodded. "Okay, I suppose that makes sense, but then why is your father's company called the **Schnee **dust company?"

"It's … complicated. Basically, my Grandfather, who founded the Schnee dust company, was supposed to pass the reigns to my mother (his daughter) upon retiring. However, for a multitude of reasons, my Grandfather deemed my mother unfit to take over his company; he felt that she wasn't aggressive enough nor clever enough to succeed him. As a result, Grandpa had my mother married to someone he deemed fit to take over - my father - and passed ownership to him."

"Does that mean your Mom was forced into marrying your Dad?" asked Ruby, a sad look on her face.

Weiss was silent for a few seconds, before replying, "She was certainly not forced into marrying Dad; Grandpa may be a tough man, but he isn't cruel. It's difficult to say for sure, but I think that my mother truly does love my father."

_That said, I can't say the same about Dad. He's always so calm, and hides his emotions so well that even I have no idea how he feels about Mom_, she said to herself. _It's so strange, I've known Dad my entire life, and yet I still don't feel like I really understand him all that well. At times he does things that don't make sense to me … It's almost like I'm close to him but don't really **know** him._

Weiss paused and closed her eyes for a few seconds, deep in thought. Then, shaking herself, she continued, "Anyways, that's the story behind my last name and the Schnee Dust Company's name."

"Okay, I get that," said Yang. "But what exactly do you want us to call him, then?"

Weiss paused for a second. "You should call him - "

She stopped mid-sentence as a deep and inhumanely calm voice sounded from the dark section of the room. "Please," it said, causing the four girls to turn towards its source. Footsteps echoed through the room as a figure approached from the darkness.

"Address me simply as Sosuke."

"Sosuke **Aizen**."


	4. Chapter 3: Training

The man who stood before them now was tall and imposing. He had brown hair that was swept back towards the back of his head, with the exception of a single strand that hung over his forehead, and exuded an aura of power quite unlike anything the four girls had seen before. His most distinguishing feature, however, was not his hair nor his aura nor his clothing - which was entirely white and quite peculiar - but rather his eyes**. **This **person's** eyes - if one could even refer to him as that - were filled with hunger and lust for power; his eyes were those of one who desired everything in the world and much more, and would stop at absolutely nothing to get what he desired.

"So, you are Weiss' friends," Aizen stated.

Looking over, Weiss winced sympathetically as she saw Ruby, Yang, and Blake tremble under his scrutinizing gaze. The aura that surrounded her father was far from normal, and while she was used to being near him, her friends were not. That said, Weiss couldn't say that she ever felt truly **comfortable **any time she was near her Dad.

Aizen flashed them an amused smirk. "Your fear is unnecessary. After all, I have no intention of harming any of you, correct?"

Ruby gulped as he continued to pace forward, taunting them still with that amused expression Weiss had grown so accustomed to over the years.

Stepping forward, Weiss glared at him, and stated firmly, "If you've had your fill of taunting my friends already, Dad, I'd like to get down to business and start talking about our training. We have limited time before the festival, and I'd like to get as much done in the short period we have as possible. We're all here because we want to get stronger, not because we enjoy playing mind games with you."

Aizen chuckled, clearly amused by his daughter's monologue. "So impatient, as usual. Fine then. Let's get down to **business**. Follow me," he responded, walking over to the room's left wall.

_This might have been a bad idea_, Weiss said to herself. _Sure, Dad can help all of us get stronger, but I'm starting to think he's a little too much for Yang, Blake, and especially Ruby. I made a mistake bringing them here ... or rather, I was too eager to show off, and didn't look at things realistically._

When Aizen arrived at the wall, he pressed a small square hidden button. As he did so, the wall faded, revealing a hidden stairwell. "Follow me," he said.

Ruby shot Weiss a confused expression. "Where are we -"

"Don't worry," Weiss replied. "You'll see soon enough.

The four girls and Aizen walked silently down the chamber, saying nothing as they traversed the stairwell, which was apparently quite lengthy. Weiss walked right behind her father, while the other three girls hung slightly farther back, still fearful of the man (if one could really call Aizen that) in front of them.

After traversing the long staircase, the group found themselves in a dark, dimly lit room.

"I can't see anything!" whined Ruby. "Where are -"

Ruby's statement was cut off abruptly as Aizen said aloud, "**Hadō #31. **Shakkahō.**"**

Following his incantation, a bright red light appeared in Aizen's hand, flooding the light with room. Before them lay a massive, empty, iron - walled room. Once again, Ruby, Yang, and Blake gaped at the sheer size of the iron cavern before them.

Stepping forward, Aizen allowed the light in his hand to drift upwards, hanging in midair. "Very well, Weiss. I will fulfill our promise."

Turning around, he glared at the four girls, then gracefully brandished his sword. Smirking, he proclaimed, "Your training begins **now**."

The four girls couldn't believe what was happening.

"How," questioned an exasperated Blake. "How is he able to … move so quickly? And his speed … it's like nothing I've ever seen."

Weiss frowned. She knew her father was strong, but she had thought they would at least be able to give him **somewhat **of a challenge when working as a team. But apparently, that wasn't the case.

Upon entering the iron cavern, her Father had immediately attacked them, proclaiming that the best method of training was "by experience." The four girls were more than happy to engage in combat, but never had they been so completely outclassed in their short careers as huntresses. Aizen was **toying **with them - beating them using nothing but his his sheer speed and his sword. He wasn't using his aura, nor his semblance, nor any other special ability.

Blake lunged forward, swinging at Aizen with her weapon. However, at the last second, Aizen disappeared with a _swoosh _sound.

"You'll have to do better than that if you wish to land a blow," he said calmly.

"I got you now!" shouted Ruby, coming up from behind and swinging at him with his scythe. Aizen ducked casually, the proceeded to kick Ruby in the stomach, sending her flying against the wall.

"Uhhhhh," groaned Ruby, clearly in pain.

"We need a coordinated attack," Yang said. "Blake, Ruby and I will distract him; while he's preoccupied, you deliver the final blow!"

"Hold on a second! The final blow? You want me to kill the guy?"

"Well, you don't have to stab him in the heart or anything! Just … injure him .. badly … or something!" responded Yang.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Fine then, let's do this."

Ruby and Yang turned to each other and nodded, then rushed head on at Aizen, who was **still** smiling, Raising his sword, he prepared himself to confront the two girls. However, at the last second, Ruby used her unmatched (or so she thought) speed to swerve to the right, reaching the right wall and planting one hand and foot on the massive iron face. Flexing her leg muscles, she prepared to launch herself back at Aizen.

"I'm still here, ya know!" shouted Yang, still running at Aizen, whose attention had temporarily been drawn by Ruby's move. Jumping into the air, she brandished her fists. "YYYAAAHHHHH!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, extending her right gauntlet towards Aizen, punching at him with all her might.

To nobody's surprise, Aizen was effortlessly blocked the blow with his sword. Then, faster than the eye could see, he slammed the hilt of the sword into Yang's stomach, sending her flying.

Now, however, Ruby launched herself towards him, scythe raised and ready to strike. "I'm not gonna lose!" Ruby said, a determined look on her face.

Aizen casually flicked his sword towards her, blocking the blow as she swung her scythe. Much to his surprise, however, Ruby flipped her scythe, and in one swift, graceful motion, yanked his sword towards her, trapping it using the back of her weapon. Aizen frowned and tried to pull the sword back, but it wouldn't budge.

"Now Blake!" shouted Ruby.

Seemingly from nowhere, Blake appeared behind Aizen. Jumping into the air and raising her sword, she prepared herself to strike him, aiming for his shoulder. The blow would not be fatal, but would certainly be enough to incapacitate any human being.

"We've got you now!" Blake proclaimed.

To her surprise, however, Aizen just smirked, unphased by the sudden turn of events. He didn't look scared or worried in the slightest - rather, his expression was the same as it had been the entire battle - smug and confident.

What happened next shocked the three girls to their very core.

Rather than attempting to dodge Blake's attack, Aizen reached up is left hand and **caught **the blade of Blake's weapon as she swung it downwards. How he was able to do this, none of them knew - to **catch **a blade seemed unimaginably difficult, let alone physically possible.

Then, calmly, Aizen said aloud, "**Hadō #33. Sōkatsui.**" Upon completing the incantation, a blue flame emerged from Aizen's hand, flinging Blake and Ruby back with tremendous force. Both girls gasped from the pain, shocked and unable to come to terms with what had just happened.

"But … how?" asked Yang, at a complete loss for words. Utterly defeated, the three girls simply lay on the ground, exhausted and injured.

Aizen scoffed, clearly unimpressed by the girls' maneuver. He glared at them for what seemed to be an eternity, relishing in his victory and taunting the fallen huntresses with his smug facial expression. The three girls quivered under his oppressive gaze.

Then, the man turned his head towards the far end of the room, directing his attention to the lone figure that stood there, unmoving. He gazed at her, analyzing and scrutinizing her every aspect.

"All this time, and not once you've attacked me. Why? Are you afraid of being hurt?" he asked to only remaining member of RWBY.

Looking him directly in the eyes, Weiss replied, "No. I'm not afraid."

"Then why have you not yet made your move?"

Holding his gaze without faltering, she replied, "I was simply waiting for the opportune moment. If I had just rushed in with everyone else, I'd have suffered the same fate they did. No, the only way to beat an opponent like you is to wait for the right opportunity before striking."

"And besides that," she continued, "I have an advantage over you that the rest of my teammates don't."

Aizen raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

"I know your weakness," she stated flatly.

"My weakness? Then what, pray tell, ismy **weakness**?"

Weiss paused, almost as if for dramatic effect, remaining silent for a few seconds before answering. Then, she she smirked openly, her face taking on an expression that resembled Aizen's own characteristic, smug look.

"You're overconfident," she replied.

Taking action, Weiss snapped her fingers, causing a white glyph to appear in front of her. At the same time, Aizen's hand - the one he had used to block Blake's attack - began glowing uncontrollably.

"What?!" he exclaimed confusedly, eyes widening ever so slightly. "What did you -"

Aizen fell silent as his hand suddenly stopped glowing. Silence enveloped the room once more.

Continuing, Aizen asked, "What did you -"

Without warning, a monumental red explosion burst forth, engulfing Aizen in massive dark red flames. The explosion was colossal - the mere sound of it nearly blew out the four girls' ears, and produced a tremendous amount of smoke and debris. Weiss covered her ears and fell to her knees, shocked by the force of the explosion.

_Damn_, she thought to herself. _I was expecting the blast to be strong, but not that strong! Just how powerful are you, father ..._

Though the explosion only lasted a couple of seconds, copious amounts of smoke covered the room for the next few minutes, preventing anyone from seeing what had happened. The four girls coughed uncontrollably, but none of them could hear Weiss' father cough. _Did I kill him?_ Weiss thought to herself. _It can't be ..._

"Did she … beat him?" asked Ruby, a shocked look on her face.

"How?" asked Yang. "When did she …"

"How clever," said Aizen's voice, resonating through the room as he emerged from the smoke. His hand was slightly bruised from the explosion, but otherwise he was relatively unscathed. Weiss scowled, feeling equal amounts of relief and frustration upon hearing her father's voice - relief that her father had survived the explosion, but frustration at the fact that she had barely been able to scratch him. "You got me - I must say that I'm impressed, Weiss." He clapped, but whether he was mocking her or actually praising her Weiss could not say.

"What did you do?" asked Blake.

Weiss' eyes narrowed. Then, she explained, "I knew that your attack combination would be stopped by my father. With his reflexes, speed, and skills there's no way any sort of direct attack - no matter how clever - would be able to hurt him, let alone defeat him."

"So," she continued, "I decided to plant a glyph on your blade before you carried out your attack, Blake."

Blake's eyes widened. "So you …"

"Yes, I planted a glyph on your blade, knowing my father would catch it with his hand. The glyph was then transferred to his body, and was able to detonate, injuring him."

Weiss glared at her dad. "I figured that you would overlook the possibility of me planting a glyph somewhere because of your overconfidence. I've seen it happen many times before in the times we've trained together."

"Okay, that much makes sense to me. But what I don't understand is why the explosion was so powerful. I'm not tryin' to insult ya, Weiss, but there's no way a huntress of our level could pull off a move like that. So just how did you do it?" she inquired.

This time, it was Aizen who weighed in. "Isn't it obvious?"

Yang, Blake, and Ruby shot him confused glances. Weiss rolled her eyes at her father's remark. _I swear he can be so difficult sometimes. It's almost like he does nothing but play mind games and tricks on those around him __…_

"The glyph Weiss used to injure me was no **normal** use of her semblance. The glyph was designed not to use the power of the **user**, but rather to feed off of the power of the **target**. When such a technique is used, the more powerful the target, the more damage the technique does. In my case, because of the vast amount of energy I possess, the spell did a high amount of damage."

Yang, Blake, and Ruby gaped openly. "Wow Weiss, I had no idea you were so … smart," Ruby remarked.

"Yeah, great job Weiss!" Yang chimed in. Blake smiled at her.

"Yes," remarked her father. "I am impressed. You truly are my daughter …"

Silence enveloped the room once more. Then, turning on his heels, Aizen walked out of the chamber and towards the stairwell they had entered through. Pausing at the entrance, he said to all of them, "That's enough **training** for today. Rest tonight, and we'll start again tomorrow morning. Come prepared to fight me again, and this time don't expect that any tricks like the one used today will work more than once."

Aizen then disappeared down the stairwell, leaving the four girls alone in the massive iron cavern.

_It's gonna be a long weekend … _Weiss said to herself.


End file.
